The Great Absence in the Women's US Open

Serena Williams, the usual dominator of the circuit, is absent from the women's US Open. The American, who is pregnant, has not played in any tournament since her victory in the Australian Open at the beginning of 2017, skipping also Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

The North American has stated that she will return to tennis at the beginning of next year, in Australia, making the US Open the last opportunity for the players to win a Grand Slam without overcoming the difficult obstacle of the winner of 23 major tournaments.

Since winning her first major title, precisely at the 1999 US Open, Serena has only missed 12 majors. The Belgian Justine Henin took the most advantage of that circumstance, winning four of those tournaments, while her compatriot Kim Clijsters won two.

In the two Grand Slams that she has already missed this year, the indirect beneficiaries were the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who won in Paris, and the Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza, who won in London.

In total, since Serena won her first major, 71 majors have been played, of which the American has won 22 more and 21 players have shared the other 49. However, 12 of them have already retired. That means that only 10 active players have a trophy of the greatest importance.

Among them, her sister Venus Williams stands out, with seven, although the most recent was at Wimbledon 2008. Following Venus on the tour is the Russian Maria Sharapova, with five majors.

The native of Niagan will return to compete in a Grand Slam for the first time since Australia 2016. Starting from that date, the former world number one was suspended for 15 months, so she missed Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australia this year.

She could have come back in Paris, but the organization of the only clay major denied her a wildcard for the main draw or for qualifying, and although the Russian stated that she would play the preliminary rounds in London, an injury prevented her from being at the legendary tournament.

She will return to an important tournament in New York, where she was already crowned in 2006, although she arrives with a record of 6-3 in the season and her best result was reaching the semifinals in Stuttgart.

But without Serena, against whom she has a record of 2-19 and as the most experienced in this type of event, second only to Venus, Maria raises her hand to surprise in Flushing Meadows.

After Sharapova, there are five active players with at least two Grand Slam titles, including Muguruza, who won at Roland Garros last year by defeating Serena in the final, and who also won Wimbledon a few months ago, against the older Williams sister.

The Spanish-Venezuelan arrives at the best moment of her career, aspiring to be the number one in the world, and she was crowned in Cincinnati on hard court, so she seems to be the rival to beat. The German Angelique Kerber also has two majors, being the champion in Australia and the US Open last year. However, the German has lost the top spot in the WTA ranking due to a season with a record of 25-17, no trophies, and not reaching the quarterfinals in Grand Slam.

Another contender is the top seed, the Czech Karolina Pliskova, even though she has never won a major. But without Serena, the opportunity is there for anyone who takes advantage of it.